Oncor observes few power outages in West Texas district

Published 3:56 am, Friday, December 6, 2013

None of Oncor Electric’s Midland customers are without power following Thursday’s weather, which brought light freezing rain, light snow and light rain, according to the National Weather Service.

As of 9:15 a.m. Friday, there were only 66 reported outages in the West Texas district, which encompasses the Permian Basin and extends east to Sweetwater, north to Wichita Falls and south to Brownwood.

There is one outage in Odessa, one in Monahans and 64 in Andrews, said Oncor Area Manager Sue Mercer.

“It’s really strange. Last week the region that I cover really got hit, and this week it’s happening in the metroplex and Texoma area,” Mercer said, referring to the Nov. 23-24 ice storm that left more than 4,500 West Texas residents without power.

Thursday’s high of 51 degrees was observed at 12:11 a.m. and the low of 23 degrees was observed at 11:59 p.m. As temperatures dropped throughout the day, 0.29 inches of precipitation was recorded.

The majority of Oncor’s current outages occur in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Mercer said.

Contract crews from Louisiana, Florida and Alabama have arrived to help restore power to metroplex residents.

How to report outages

- Report an outage to Oncor by calling 1-888-313-4747

- Report an outage to Sharyland by calling 800-442-8688

- Register for Oncor’s text message report program by texting ‘reg’ to 66267 (ONCOR). You will need the ESI number from your bill or the telephone number associated with your account, as well as the zip code to complete registration.

Once registered, all you will need to do to report future outages is text ‘out’ to 66267.